Published: Monday, February 25, 2013 at 11:10 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, February 25, 2013 at 11:10 p.m.

Like a family that loses one of its paychecks, a number of agencies and private companies in Southwest Florida will have to make do with less should Congress and the White House fail to find an alternative to the automatic budget cuts scheduled to kick in Friday.

Facts

POTENTIAL IMPACTS IN REGION

Airports and travel

The FAA has readied a list of 100 airports that might see their control towers close in April. Sarasota-Bradenton looks safe, but Punta Gorda's field is on the list.

Schools and other programs for children

School districts are worried about the potential hit to so-called Title 1 funds. Also worried are those overseeing Head Start programs, which help preschool children from poor families.

Unemployment responders

Suncoast Workforce, the region's primary not-for-profit job agency, relies almost exclusively on $9.8 million in federal funding each year. Managers haven't gotten any clear indications on what the nonprofit can expect.

Military and defense-related businesses

State leaders worry about the potential impact of cuts to Florida's defense industry, and the ripple effects. Florida has more than 20 military installations.

County governments

Two of the biggest recipients of federal dollars in Southwest Florida appear to be most in the dark: Sarasota and Manatee counties. Sarasota County spent or helped distribute nearly $22 million in federal funds last year. Manatee County received almost $20 million.

At this point, despite dire predictions from the White House and others about the so-called "sequestration," no one seems to have a firm grip on how deeply the cuts might affect them.

But the potential impact could be felt in schools serving the region's neediest students, agencies that have steered the unemployed to new work throughout the Great Recession, small airports and small- and midsized businesses that work on contract with the federal government, many for the Department of Defense.

Only one thing is certain.

"There is going to be pain," said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida who tracks the state's economy.

"Predictions of what this is going to mean have been very specific, down to the number of teacher-days that might be lost," Snaith said. "While this is a fairly blunt-force instrument, the agencies have some discretion as to how they are going to implement these cuts."

A look at potential impacts:

Airports and travel

At the Federal Aviation Administration, sequestration calls for slashing $600 million in spending by the end of September.

Executives at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport figure their air traffic control tower is safe.

But not so at Punta Gorda Airport, one of 100 fields nationally on a list prepared by the FAA of those who might see their control towers closed in April if cuts take effect.

That would mean Punta Gorda's main carrier, Allegiant Air, would have to decide the future of the 11 markets it serves with non-stop flights from Charlotte County, said spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler.

"If traffic is delayed at the major airports, it ripples through the system," Piccolo said. "I don't know how the airlines will handle that. Will we lose flights? I don't know."

Schools and other programs for children

School districts are worried about the potential hit to so-called Title 1 funds, the largest federally funded education program in the country.

The Sarasota County School District receives $9.7 million annually to pay for 66 teachers at schools with the highest percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunches. The idea is to keep class sizes low and provide extra support for the most vulnerable children. Title 1 money, for example, pays for extra staff members who help children struggling to read at Booker Middle School or 11 elementary schools.

If the district loses those dollars, teachers would likely be cut at schools where 60-74 percent of students get free lunch, said Al Weidner, the district's deputy chief finance official.

Because of the federal budget problems bubbling up last year, the district put $584,000 in Title 1 money aside to deal with any cuts in the next two years, Weidner said.

In Manatee County, district officials set aside $1 million with the same idea. Primarily in western Manatee, the district has nearly 23 schools receiving Title 1 money: 17 elementary, four middle and two alternative schools.

"We couldn't just be sitting there spending the money and then the sequester happens," said Elena Garcia, the district's director of federal programs and grants.

Also worried are those overseeing Head Start programs, which help preschool children from poor families.

In Sarasota County, the program serves 588 children each day, with a waiting list that has grown to 250.

"We haven't got any definite answers from the office in Washington or the regional office."

"We just don't know how it will affect our program exactly," said Hope Kinney, who oversees Sarasota County's Head Start. But there is not room to cut much except staff positions. Eighty percent of the program's $3.9 million is spent on salaries and benefits for 175 staff.

The program gets 80 percent of its budget from the federal government, with a local match making up the remainder.

Unemployment responders

Another potential agency reliant on federal dollars filtered through state government is Suncoast Workforce, the region's primary not-for-profit job agency.

Suncoast relies almost exclusively on $9.8 million in federal funding each year to pay for its operations and to help retrain workers for fields in which they can find jobs. Of that, roughly $3 million goes into education, including teaching résumé skills, or even paying tuition so that an unemployed or underemployed worker can go back to school.

Like many other agencies, Suncoast managers have not gotten any clear indications on what the nonprofit can expect.

"We haven't heard anything that gives us any direction at all," said spokeswoman Sally Hill.

Military and defense-related businesses

Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders also are worried about the impact of the sequestration cuts on Florida's defense industry and the ripple effects in the still-struggling economy.

"The impacts on Florida's military installations and defense industries will be severe under the meat hammer of sequestration," Scott said.

One immediate concern also was "dramatic reductions to our National Guard, which threatens our ability to respond to wildfires this spring and hurricanes this summer," Scott said.

The Guard faces an estimated annual cut of $27.2 million, which would require 986 soldiers to be furloughed for 20 percent of the remaining year. That represents about $7.3 million in lost wages.

Scott said Florida is one of the nation's "most defense-centric states," with more than 20 military installations.

Potential cuts also would hurt a defense industry that now accounts for 754,000 jobs and a $73.4 billion slice of the economy.

Southwest Florida does not have any huge defense companies, but the region is home to dozens of smaller businesses that rely on government contracts for their livelihood.

"If the major defense contracts are pared way back or discontinued, the Boeings, Lockheeds and Siemens companies are not going to go away," said Peter Straw, executive director of the Sarasota-Manatee Manufacturers Association. "But it could have a drastic impact on the smaller subcontractors. And they don't have the sustainability to wait for Washington to get their act together."

Joe Marino, president of the Florida League of Defense Contractors, estimated that about 80,000 Florida workers would be affected under sequestration. Half would be direct jobs and half indirect, or supporting jobs, he said.

"A lot of businesses are going to be looking at how to survive," Marino said.

One of those might be Sarasota's LCX Systems LLC, which employs 10 providing the military and Coast Guard with a computerized mission-management system used in airborne surveillance.

Just as company founder Herb Lustig and his staff were preparing for their most important trade show — an invitation-only event in Texas, put on by the Army Association of America — they realized that the military had put a freeze on travel. The small company usually commits four staffers to the event.

"Military travel has basically come to a screeching halt," Lustig said. "It's going to be vendor talking to vendor."

County governments

Two of the biggest recipients of federal dollars in Southwest Florida appear to be most in the dark about how cuts will play out: Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Government managers say a wide range of local programs could lose funding, from beach renourishment to health care, public transportation, law enforcement and road projects. Sarasota County directly spent or helped distribute nearly $22 million in federal funds last year. Manatee County received almost $20 million.

The grants included everything from $29,185 for election assistance in Sarasota County to nearly $2 million for Port Manatee's expansion that is aimed at harnessing new trade from the expanded Panama Canal.

Officials in both counties said they have not seen specifics on cuts locally.

"At this point we are closely monitoring all of the information as it becomes available," said Steve Botelho, Sarasota County's chief financial planning officer.

<p>Like a family that loses one of its paychecks, a number of agencies and private companies in Southwest Florida will have to make do with less should Congress and the White House fail to find an alternative to the automatic budget cuts scheduled to kick in Friday.</p><p>At this point, despite dire predictions from the White House and others about the so-called "sequestration," no one seems to have a firm grip on how deeply the cuts might affect them.</p><p>But the potential impact could be felt in schools serving the region's neediest students, agencies that have steered the unemployed to new work throughout the Great Recession, small airports and small- and midsized businesses that work on contract with the federal government, many for the Department of Defense.</p><p>Only one thing is certain.</p><p>"There is going to be pain," said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida who tracks the state's economy.</p><p>"Predictions of what this is going to mean have been very specific, down to the number of teacher-days that might be lost," Snaith said. "While this is a fairly blunt-force instrument, the agencies have some discretion as to how they are going to implement these cuts."</p><p>A look at potential impacts:</p><p><b>Airports and travel</b></p><p>At the Federal Aviation Administration, sequestration calls for slashing $600 million in spending by the end of September.</p><p>Executives at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport figure their air traffic control tower is safe.</p><p>But not so at Punta Gorda Airport, one of 100 fields nationally on a list prepared by the FAA of those who might see their control towers closed in April if cuts take effect. </p><p>That would mean Punta Gorda's main carrier, Allegiant Air, would have to decide the future of the 11 markets it serves with non-stop flights from Charlotte County, said spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler.</p><p>That exercise would be replayed throughout the country.</p><p>"We are at a lot of airports that are on that list," Wheeler said.</p><p>Though not worried about his tower, Sarasota-Bradenton International chief executive Frederick "Rick" Piccolo is sweating potential cutbacks at the Transportation Security Administration, the agency overseeing passenger security. Cuts might cause delays at bigger airports.</p><p>"If traffic is delayed at the major airports, it ripples through the system," Piccolo said. "I don't know how the airlines will handle that. Will we lose flights? I don't know."</p><p><b>Schools and other programs for children</b></p><p>School districts are worried about the potential hit to so-called Title 1 funds, the largest federally funded education program in the country.</p><p>The Sarasota County School District receives $9.7 million annually to pay for 66 teachers at schools with the highest percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunches. The idea is to keep class sizes low and provide extra support for the most vulnerable children. Title 1 money, for example, pays for extra staff members who help children struggling to read at Booker Middle School or 11 elementary schools.</p><p>If the district loses those dollars, teachers would likely be cut at schools where 60-74 percent of students get free lunch, said Al Weidner, the district's deputy chief finance official.</p><p>Because of the federal budget problems bubbling up last year, the district put $584,000 in Title 1 money aside to deal with any cuts in the next two years, Weidner said.</p><p>In Manatee County, district officials set aside $1 million with the same idea. Primarily in western Manatee, the district has nearly 23 schools receiving Title 1 money: 17 elementary, four middle and two alternative schools.</p><p>"We couldn't just be sitting there spending the money and then the sequester happens," said Elena Garcia, the district's director of federal programs and grants.</p><p>Also worried are those overseeing Head Start programs, which help preschool children from poor families.</p><p>In Sarasota County, the program serves 588 children each day, with a waiting list that has grown to 250.</p><p>"We haven't got any definite answers from the office in Washington or the regional office."</p><p>"We just don't know how it will affect our program exactly," said Hope Kinney, who oversees Sarasota County's Head Start. But there is not room to cut much except staff positions. Eighty percent of the program's $3.9 million is spent on salaries and benefits for 175 staff.</p><p>The program gets 80 percent of its budget from the federal government, with a local match making up the remainder.</p><p><b>Unemployment responders</B></p><p>Another potential agency reliant on federal dollars filtered through state government is Suncoast Workforce, the region's primary not-for-profit job agency.</p><p>Suncoast relies almost exclusively on $9.8 million in federal funding each year to pay for its operations and to help retrain workers for fields in which they can find jobs. Of that, roughly $3 million goes into education, including teaching résumé skills, or even paying tuition so that an unemployed or underemployed worker can go back to school.</p><p>Like many other agencies, Suncoast managers have not gotten any clear indications on what the nonprofit can expect.</p><p>"We haven't heard anything that gives us any direction at all," said spokeswoman Sally Hill.</p><p><b>Military and defense-related businesses</b></p><p>Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders also are worried about the impact of the sequestration cuts on Florida's defense industry and the ripple effects in the still-struggling economy.</p><p>"The impacts on Florida's military installations and defense industries will be severe under the meat hammer of sequestration," Scott said.</p><p>One immediate concern also was "dramatic reductions to our National Guard, which threatens our ability to respond to wildfires this spring and hurricanes this summer," Scott said.</p><p>The Guard faces an estimated annual cut of $27.2 million, which would require 986 soldiers to be furloughed for 20 percent of the remaining year. That represents about $7.3 million in lost wages.</p><p>Scott said Florida is one of the nation's "most defense-centric states," with more than 20 military installations.</p><p>Potential cuts also would hurt a defense industry that now accounts for 754,000 jobs and a $73.4 billion slice of the economy.</p><p>Southwest Florida does not have any huge defense companies, but the region is home to dozens of smaller businesses that rely on government contracts for their livelihood.</p><p>"If the major defense contracts are pared way back or discontinued, the Boeings, Lockheeds and Siemens companies are not going to go away," said Peter Straw, executive director of the Sarasota-Manatee Manufacturers Association. "But it could have a drastic impact on the smaller subcontractors. And they don't have the sustainability to wait for Washington to get their act together."</p><p>Joe Marino, president of the Florida League of Defense Contractors, estimated that about 80,000 Florida workers would be affected under sequestration. Half would be direct jobs and half indirect, or supporting jobs, he said.</p><p>"A lot of businesses are going to be looking at how to survive," Marino said.</p><p>One of those might be Sarasota's LCX Systems LLC, which employs 10 providing the military and Coast Guard with a computerized mission-management system used in airborne surveillance.</p><p>Just as company founder Herb Lustig and his staff were preparing for their most important trade show — an invitation-only event in Texas, put on by the Army Association of America — they realized that the military had put a freeze on travel. The small company usually commits four staffers to the event.</p><p>"Military travel has basically come to a screeching halt," Lustig said. "It's going to be vendor talking to vendor."</p><p><b>County governments</b></p><p>Two of the biggest recipients of federal dollars in Southwest Florida appear to be most in the dark about how cuts will play out: Sarasota and Manatee counties.</p><p>Government managers say a wide range of local programs could lose funding, from beach renourishment to health care, public transportation, law enforcement and road projects. Sarasota County directly spent or helped distribute nearly $22 million in federal funds last year. Manatee County received almost $20 million.</p><p>The grants included everything from $29,185 for election assistance in Sarasota County to nearly $2 million for Port Manatee's expansion that is aimed at harnessing new trade from the expanded Panama Canal.</p><p>Officials in both counties said they have not seen specifics on cuts locally.</p><p>"At this point we are closely monitoring all of the information as it becomes available," said Steve Botelho, Sarasota County's chief financial planning officer.</p><p></p><p><i>Staff writers Gabrielle Russon, Lloyd Dunkelberger and Zac Anderson contributed to this report.</i></p>